But there’s one aspect of this wedding you might not have heard about yet: it was a surprise to the entire guest list.

Chan had graduated from medical school during the week, and she and Zuckerberg sent out invitations to a graduation party. But when guests arrived, well, Chan was wearing a white gown and veil and the next thing guests knew, they were witnessing the start of a new marriage.

While this approach certainly isn’t for everybody, I have to say I like the concept. It’s low key, so it’s easier to avoid jitters. Nobody is expecting a wedding, so they don’t worry about shelling out money they can’t afford on new clothes and gifts. You don’t have to corral your nearest girlfriends into the bridal salon to argue over which available dress they hate least as a group. Nobody can accuse you of boring them to death with wedding details. Nobody has a chance to object to the aspect of the wedding that means the most to you.

In short, all you need to do is organize a party in a place you like, invite the people you’re closest to, nab yourself an officiant, get a license, and give everyone there the surprise of their lives! It’s up to you whether to plan for months or do it on a couple days’ notice, whether to include traditional trappings or drop every wedding convention except the vows.

I took a long time to plan my wedding to Mr. Twistie. I enjoyed the entire process. I loved sharing my plans with others. But there’s definitely something to be said for keeping an exciting secret, too.

So how about you? Would you ever consider a surprise wedding?

But if you’re reading this blog, chances are that you’ve already found that certain, special someone. What you need is a little help finding the right vendors to make your day everything you’ve dreamed of.

OneWed.com has been helping couples find those vendors for some time now, but they’ve just launched an intriguing new free Matchmaker function called MatchMake.

You simply answer a set of questions about your wedding as regards the aspect you’re looking for help in (venue, catering, photography, transportation, etc.), and it pops out a list of vendors that best match your needs.

For instance, last night I sat down and played with the venue selection to see what I came up with. I gave them some real challenges (venues that feature purple, outdoor museum space, room for 150 for $500 or less) and they managed to come through with some options that – while not exact – did feature a fair number of the aspects I asked for. And I did some runs on the catering options, too, with similar results.

I really appreciated the fact that the questions included some fairly non-traditional options in the answer pool. For one thing, the religious affiliation question included the options of ‘atheist’ ‘Pastafarian’ and ‘Scientologist’ as well as more traditional possibilities such as ‘Catholic’ ‘Jewish’ or ‘Hindu’. Also, you could choose up to three. Options for the mood of your venue included things like ‘quirky’ as well as ‘romantic.’

All in all, I found this an encouraging place to look for the right vendors when you don’t know where to start.

The downside? Well, thus far it only shows vendors for the New York and Chicago areas. Bummer for those of you getting married in Maine or Texas. Still, as I said, this is a new program. I fully expect it to expand.

In the meantime, the site as a whole is brimming over with inspiration and options for the rest of us, including lists of local vendors in all walks of wedding planning, complete with user reviews. It just doesn’t weed out the ones that won’t work for you at all. Yet.

Of course a train this long isn’t very practical for your average wedding. The materials alone cost over seven thousand dollars, and the length would fill four football fields.

So how does one make a getaway in a gown with a nearly two mile long train?

In a hot air balloon, natch!

If not, click on the link.

If you are familiar, just bask in the perfection of this tribute wedding cake from Pink Cake Box.

Mmm… I want a slice.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of pie. I’ll eat it any time of day or night. I love both sweet and savory pies. Blueberry? I’m there! Steak and Kidney? Equally there!

In fact, when Mr. Twistie and I were married, we didn’t have a cake. We had individual fruit tarts. They were delicious and festive and just a little quirky. Very us.

(Image via Achatz Handemade Pie Co.)

Mmmm…pie. Save a slice for me!

For instance, that photo at the top of this entry? That’s Len Kendall. When he decided to pop the big question, he went to Buzzfeed and posted this meme of himself asking Katie the Big Question… and invited his friends to create images in a similar vein to support him. The images include everything from Tim Tebow to Angelina Jolie’s right leg to… stuff I don’t recognize, but still find amusing. About the only one I didn’t see was Princess Beatrice’s hat from last spring’s royal wedding. Then again, I’m guessing the images at Huff Po don’t include every single effort.

BTW, the lady said yes.

Ira Weissman has an article to help you navigate the potential minefield of buying your engagement diamond online. It’s a simple guide to avoiding one or two popular scams. Could be helpful if there’s a diamond in your future.

Confused about tipping wedding vendors and their staff? Danielle Elder has shared her personal list of whom to tip and by how much. I would say it’s a good place to start, but recommend consulting with a good etiquette guide and/or savvy folks in your area before simply taking it at face value.

Then there’s an article from Stephanie Hallet on the history of Leap Day proposals. Yeah, turns out virtually every legend about how it got started has no verifiable basis in historical records, but that’s no surprise. My advice? If you’re the one who wants to propose, do it on your schedule. Oh, and best of all possible luck to you!

The pair will be dressed in wedding finery modeled on that worn by the actual couple, from her Alexander McQueen gown to her diamond tiara and the groom’s Irish Guard uniform in striking scarlet.

Of course, some couples get immortalized as Barbie dolls faster than others. Last month, Mattel released their Twilight line Edward and Bella Barbie and Ken… and they were only married last summer.

Then again, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are available for pre-order at $100.00 a set, while Edward the Sparkly Vampire and his eternal bride go for just $29.95 each.

For those looking for something down the middle, Mattel did release their wedding edition Faith Hill and Tim McGraw wedding Barbie and Ken for $69.95. They come with microphones.

The latest player in that game is Pizza Hut. I’m betting it’s too late to play now, what with the big day being tomorrow and what with PH having limited the deal to just ten pizza loving couples, but for $10,010.00 they will give the following:

Limo service
a ruby engagement ring
a bouquet of flowers
a personal fireworks display
a professional photographer
a professional videographer
and
a Pizza Hut $10.00 Dinner Box, containing: a medium, one topping rectangular pan pizza, five breadsticks with marinara sauce, and ten cinnamon sticks with a sweet icing cup in one box.

I have to say, the thing that probably intrigues me the most about the entire deal is the fact that the engagement ring included is a ruby flanked by diamonds, and not all diamonds. Funnily enough, I do think it adds to the appeal of the deal for me… though any man who thought what I wanted most in a proposal was chain pizza and breadsticks would probably get a very sad video in return for his ten grand investment.

Then again, I’m betting there are at least ten women in America who would consider this the absolute perfect proposal. I hope their loves found this offer.

The couple shown above are Lena and Ola Pahlsson. One day in 1995, while Lena was in the midst of a marathon baking session for Christmas, she lost her ring.

The couple searched over and over. When they remodeled the kitchen several years later, they even looked under and behind appliances and under the floorboards. No luck.

Sixteen years after the ring disappeared, Lena was in the vegetable garden pulling up some delicious carrots, when one of them proved to have something surprising on it: her long-lost wedding ring!

This is just one of seven amazing stories of lost and found wedding and engagement rings in an article over at Neatorama. Go read them for a combination good laugh and glowy feeling of things coming right in the end. Oh, and to get a couple good ideas of what never to do with your wedding ring!

That’s only one reason that Karen Bell’s wedding gown is so remarkable. It’s also a rather ambitious DIY upcycling project. When Karen and her new husband Simon decided to tie the knot, they reasoned that since they’d both been married before in white weddings, they wanted to do something different. They decided to celebrate their hometown of Manchester, England across the Atlantic… oh, sorry. Flashback to that production of Hair I saw once. Anyway, yes, their hometown of Manchester, England where they both still live, and the football team they both support.

Over the years, Simon had developed a collection of Manchester-themed shirts. He handed these over to Karen who spent the next eight months at her sewing machine turning them into the gown shown above.

After the wedding, the happy couple went straight to romantic Etihad Stadium to watch their beloved team play. There is no word on whether or not the bride changed her clothes first.

Whatever the case, I do wish them the very best of British luck, and may Manchester City win often.